Adjustable drapery hook with track



Sept. 1, 1959 J. N. GRABER ADJUSTABLE DRAPERY HOOK WITH TRACK Filed April 1, 1957 INVENTOR JOHN N. GRABER ATTORNEYS United States Patent ADJUSTABLE DRAPERY HOOK WITH TRACK John N. Graber, Middleton, Wis., assignor to Graber Manufacturing Company, Inc., Middleton, Wis., a corporation Application April 1, 1957, Serial No. 649,699

3 Claims. (Cl. 24-81) This invention appertains to devices for adjustably connecting drapes to the slides or runners of supporting rods, and other similar structures and, more particularly, to a new and improved supporting hook for the same. This invention also embodies an improvement over the devices shown and described in my co-pending applications Serial Numbers 640,732 and 640,756, filed February 18, 1957.

In my co-pending applications, I have illustrated novel means for adjusting the traverse rod slide or runner engaging hooks with the drapery connecting means, whereby the hooks can be individually adjusted relative to the drapery heading without disturbing the drapery connecting means.

One of the primary objects of my present invention is to provide a new and improved supporting hook having effective means for adjustably connecting said hook with their drapery connecting means, so that the hooks can be quickly adjusted manually and then automatically held in such adjusted position by the inherent resiliency of the hook members, the arrangement being such that the weight of the drapery functions as an additional means for holding the hook members in their selected adjusted position against accidental displacement.

Another important object of my present invention is to provide a supporting hook adapted to slide vertically on a guide plate and so constructed that pressure on the hook portion will move a detent or latch finger in and out of engagement with a selected keeper notch in the plate so that the hook may be adjusted vertically of the plate.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel supporting hook of a molded plastic material having a base section adapted to engage and slide on the guide plate and carrying integral hook and latch means.

A salient feature of my invention resides in molding the supporting hook from resilient flexible nylon or the like, the main body portion of the hook being molded in either round, square or other geometrical shapes of substantially uniform thickness or diameter and providing a reduced section adjacent the point where the hook joins the sliding base so that when pressure is exerted on the outer surface or bill of the hook, a pivoting action will always result adjacent the weakened or reduced portion.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view in perspective illustrating one position of the adjusted hook on the plate, the device being shown in the position it would assume if attached to a drape;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view in perspective of the device;

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view in perspective of my novel device;

2,901,795 Patented Sept. 1, 1959 ice Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the hook and a portion of the guide plate, certain parts being broken away and in section to illustrate further details of construction;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4, looking in the direction of the arrows, the adjustable hook being shown in top plan;

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 6--6 of Figure 4, looking in the direction of the arrows, the adjustable hook being shown in bottom plan, and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing my device in use.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter S generally indicates one preferred form of my improved device for supporting a drape D from a traverse rod R. The rod R is of a well known type and can be of a G-shape in crosssection for slidably supporting slides 9. The supporting device S comprises, broadly, a guide track or plate 10, the slidable and adjustable hook 11 and the drape securing prongs 12.

The track or guide plate 11) as well as the drape securing means 12 may be formed of any suitable material such as plastic, nylon or the like, but I prefer to form these parts of metal, for example, the track or guide plate 10 is stamped from a single length of metal forming a rounded end 13 and an offset lower end 14. Extending centrally and longitudinally through the guide or track 10 is a series of spaced keeper apertures 15. Welded or otherwise secured at 16 to the offset end 14 of the guide plate 10 are the upwardly extending prongs 12. These prongs 12 may be constructed in any desired manner and are adapted to fit the heading of the drapes D and, preferably at the pleats thereof. In the present form, the prongs 12 are constructed from a single length of resilient stock bent in an approximate U-shape and the upper ends are rounded as at 17 to facilitate the entrance of the prongs between the pleats.

It should be obvious that the guide plate or track 10 may be secured to the heading of the drape in any desired conventional manner, such as by sewing directly thereto or any of a number of attaching means more fully shown and described in my co-pending application.

A salient feature of my present invention, however, resides in the novel construction of the adjustable hook 11 and, in the preferred form, this hook 11 is made of resilient nylon and includes a loop shaped base slide 18 that encompasses the plate 10 and is adapted for free movement from one end of the plate towards the other. Extending laterally and angularly from the forward surface 19 of the base slide 13 is a supporting leg 20. This supporting leg 20 forms one leg of the hook, per se, and the hook is also provided with a bill 21, the end termination 22 of which, extends angularly toward the guide plate 10. At the end 23 of the leg 20 is a latch finger 24 and this finger extends at substantially right angles to the guide plate and is adapted to enter the keeper openings 15. The bill 21 is adapted to be inserted in the eye of the slide 9.

An important feature of my invention resides in weakening the leg 20 at the point 25 where the leg joins the base slide 18 and inasmuch as all of the dimensions of the component hook parts are the same and, therefore, substantially greater than the narrow weakened portion 25, it should be obvious that any pressure on the bill 21 inwardly towards the plate 10 will cause the adjustable hook 11 to pivot at the weakened portion 25 only. This movement causes the hook 111 to move from its full line position (Figure 4) to its dotted line position and the latch finger 24 will then move out of a respective keeper opening 15. The inherent resiliency of the device, however, will normally hold the latch finger 24 in a selected keeper opening as shown in the full line position. Also, when the device is attached to a drape, the weight of the drape will aid in forcing the latch finger 24 into the keeper openings and, in fact, could cause the latch finger to bind or extend too far into these openings and, therefore, I provide a stop lug 26 which limits the movement of the latch finger 24 into the respective keeper openings. It can be seen that a downward pull on the hook 11 caused by the weight of the drapes will push the latch finger 24 forwardly toward the guide plate 10.

It is very important to note that the leg 20 is weakened at the point 25 by reducing the dimensions at the point 25 on its inner and outer surfaces 27 and 28 respectively. In other words, the inner and outer :surfaces 27 and 28 converge inwardly toward the point 25 as shown and the sides, however, are substantially parallel. This gives the hook rigidity in one direction and prevents lateral shifting and movement of the hook but readily allows the same to pivot toward and away from the guide plate '10 and its base slide 18 about the point 25. When the latch finger 24 is retracted, the base slide 18 may, of course, be moved to any desired adjusted position and, if necessary, may be entirely removed ofi the end 13 of the plate 10.

From the foregoing, it should be obvious that I have provided a novel hook construction adjustably received on the slidable plate 10 and various changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An adjustable drapery supporting device comprising a guide plate adapted to be secured to the heading of drapes and to extend longitudinally thereof and having a centrally disposed longitudinal line of keeper openings, an adjustable drapery hook for said plate including a base slide slidably mounted for free movement longitudinally a on said plate, an upwardly and angularly extending resilient leg formed on the base slide, a depending hook portion on said leg for engaging a rod projecting outwardly from one side of the leg, and an inwardly extending latch finger on the opposite side of said leg from said hook portion adapted to engage in a selected keeper opening in said guide plate, .the inherent resiliency of the leg normally holding said latch finger in a selected keeper opening.

2. An adjustable drapery supporting device comprising a guide plate adapted to be secured to the heading of drapes and to extend longitudinally thereof and having a centrally disposed longitudinal line of keeper openings, an adjustable drapery 'hook for said plate including a base slide mounted for free longitudinal movement on said plate, an upwardly and angularly extending resilient leg formed on the base slide, a depending hook portion on said leg for engaging a rod projecting outwardly from one side of the leg,a latch finger formed on the opposite side of said leg adapted to engage in a selected keeper opening, said leg and hook being so constructed and arranged that their inherent resiliency tends to keep the latch finger in a selected keeper opening, said hook portion, said leg and said latch finger all having substantially the same thickness and diameter, and a narrow reduced connecting portion on said leg adjacent the point where said leg joins said base slide to increase the flexibility of said leg at one point.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2, and a stop lug on said latch finger adapted to engage the outer face of the guide plate to restrict the movement of said finger into a selected keeper opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,983,367 Klugelin Dec. 4, 1934 2,817,889 Kalal et al. Dec. 31, 1957 

